Track Town Traditions & the Culture of Running

Joe Henderson is the award-winning author of 27 books and former chief editor of Runner’s World magazine.

Thursday, May 22
Olympia, Part 1: Festival of the Nations
Film directed by Leni Riefenstahl

Olympia, Part 1: Festival of the Nations is the first of a two-part film made by German director Leni Riefenstahl documenting the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Riefenstahl’s work is highly controversial —she is best remembered for Triumph of the Will, a Nazi propaganda film—yet Riefenstahl is lauded for her innovative aesthetic technique, making use of unusual camera angles, tracking shots, and extreme close-ups years before these became cinematic standards. Criticized by some as propaganda promoting the Nazi valuation of athletic ability, the film is defended by others as anti-propagandist for showing champions from a variety of ethnicities, and highlighting African-American athlete Jesse Owens’ unprecedented winning of four Gold Medals. Olympia set the tone for all coverage of the Olympics to follow and is frequently ranked as one of the top 100 films of the last 80 years.

Screening: Fire on the Track: The Steve Prefontaine Story, followed by discussion with Linda Prefontaine, Geoff Hollister (Nike pioneer and author), Scott Chambers (executive producer of the film), Pat Tyson (award-winning coach and former UO runner), and special guests.
These events are sponsored by the UO Folklore Program and the College of Arts & Sciences, and held in conjunction with the summer course Folklore 410/510 / Track Town Traditions and the Culture of Running / CRN 42291/42292. For information, contact Folklore Program Director Daniel Wojcik: dwojcik@uoregon.edu; 346-3946.